Introduction to Week 3: Thinking about Risks

Welcome to It’s a Risky World and Then the Unexpected Happened! During week three we will focus on answering the questions: How do we assess the risks associated with the project? How do we plan for uncertainty and ambiguity?

This week we consider the risk and uncertainties projects face. We’ll understand what is risky about projects. We will identify and assess project risks and prioritize these risks in order to focus our attention on those most impactful to the project. We’ll consider schedule risks in detail and ask, “What is the likelihood of finishing on time? What are the drivers that may cause delays in my project?” We will see how a project budget can be set to include a contingency. Finally, we’ll consider situations with a high degree of ambiguity and identify methods than can useful in these situations.